Swirling tool



Oct- 23, 1952 T. R. cARRUTl-l ETAL 3,059,261

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` 0 s l f (s f I SL51 9 1 5 6j 5) i0/ 4 6| f /2 5' TOMMY Je. amm/TH mzlJRN @AIL wHfsEA/Hz/Nr INVENTORS ATTRNEY United States Patent O 3,059,261 SWIRLING TOOL Tommy R. Carruth and Wilburn Gail Whisenhunt, Euless, Tex.; said Carruth assignor to said Whisenhunt Filed Nov. 25, 1960, Ser. No. 71,649 1 Claim. (Cl. 15-210.5)

This invention relates to a swirling tool, and it concerns more particularly a hand tool for use in forming one of a series of design unitsV in a wet textone type surface coating as applied to a Sheetrock ceiling.

In forming ceilings of composition building board, commonly referred to as Sheetrock, it is common practice to apply to the exposed surface of the board, after taping and lling the joints between adjoining sections, a surface coating consisting of plastic cementitious material, the lfinished surface being commonly referred to as textone.

Ceilings of the type described have heretofore been decorated by forming a series of design units in the wet surface coating material, as applied to the building board, such units being arranged in a predetermined pattern and each of the units consisting of a plurality of concentric circles comprising alternating radially spaced circular ridges and depressions.

An object of this invention is to provide a simple, convenient hand tool which is peculiarly adapted for use in forming individually a series of concentric circle design units as described in a wet plastic cementitious sur-face coating material as applied to a ceiling formed of composition building board.

The invention will be readily understood by referring to the following description and the accompanying drawing, in which:

iFIG. 1 is a view showing one side of a swirling tool embodying the invention;

FIG. 2 is a view showing the opposite side thereof; and

lFIG. 3 is a view taken at right angles to the views shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.

Referring to the drawing, the swirling tool of the invention includes a pair of identical elongated blade elements 1, lformed of elastic, resilient sheet material such as rubber, each having a serrated longitudinal edge portion 2 conforming to the cross sectional contour of the alternating radially spaced circular ridges and depressions which are to be formed in the wet surface coating -material.

The blade elements 1 are received in an elongated holder therefor, designated generally by the numeral 3, whereby the blade elements 1 are secured in longitudinally aligned, closely spaced relation to each other, adjacent opposite ends of the holder 3 and equidistantly from its middle.

The holder 3 consists of an elongated plate 4 having a pair of relatively shorter plates 5, each corresponding to one of the blade elements 1, clamped thereto, on opposite sides of the respective blade elements 1, by means of a plurality of bolts 6, whichy are inserted thru openings therefor in the plates 4 and 5 and the blade elements 1 and have nuts 7 applied thereto.

The serrated edge portions 2 of the blade elements 1 protrude outwardly beyond the adjacent longitudinal edge of the holder 3. The plates 5, which are substantially shorter, but wider, than the plate 4, each have a right angular ange 8 valong one of its longitudinal edges overlying the adjacent longitudinal edge of the plate 4 and the longitudinal edge of the corresponding blade element 1 opposite its serrated edge portion 2.

An elongated handle 9, which is shownrfragmentarily, has an end portion 10 which is pivotally connected to the holder 3 equidistantly from the ends of the holder 3 by a screw 11. The screw 11, which is removably.y secured.

telescopically in the remainder of the handle 9, which is tubular, and is secured thereto by a rivet 12.

The end portion 10 of the handle 9 has a channel shaped recess 13 extending across one side thereof, and spaced inwardly from its outer end, in which a middle portion of the elongated plate 4 is received, and has oppositely facing shoulders 14, which comprise the sides of the recess 13, for abutting engagement of the shoulders 14, or either of them, with a longitudinal edge of the elongated plate 4, on opposite sides of the screw 11, to limit pivotal movement of the holder 3 in either direction relative to the end portion 10, whereby the holder 3 is maintained substantially perpendicular to the handle 9.

A needle 15, which advantageously may be a phonograph needle, is received in a hole in the outer end of the end portion 10, centrally thereof, communicating at its inner end with the recess 13, and extends outwardly therefrom, in axial alignment with the handle 9. The needle 15 is removably secured in the end portion 10 by a set screw 16.

The outer end of the end portion 10 has a beveled peripheral edge 17.

In using the swirling tool of the invention to decorate a ceiling as above described, the protruding edges 2 of the blade elements 1 are extended upwardly, with the outer end of the end portion 10, in abutting engagement with the ceiling, and the tool is rotated slightly more than degrees about the axis of the handle 9, whereby the two blade elements 1 together traverse a complete circle.

There is a slight overlapping of the paths of the respective -blade elements 1 upon completion of the turn, and the tool is gradually lowered at the end of its semicircular movement whereby it is disengaged from the ceiling.

The needle 15- is adapted to penetrate the material of the ceiling to provide a iirm pivot for use in rotating the tool about the axis of the handle 9.

The blade holder 3 is movable pivotally about the screw 11 in a plane which is parallel to the axis of the handle 9, and at the same time the tool is adapted to be tilted laterally about the protruding edges 2 of the blade elements 1.

The pivotal movement of the blade holder 3 relative to the end portion 1-0 of the handle 9, together with the pivotal movement of the tool about the protruding edges 2 of the blade elements 1, as above described, assure that the protruding edges 2 of the blade elements 1 will be held firmly in uniformly abutting engagement with the ceiling independently of the position of the handle 9 relative to the vertical plane, so that it is not necessary to hold the tool with the handle 9 in a true vertical position in order to obtain satisfactory results.

The serrated lonigtudinal edge portions 2 of the Iblade elements 1 extend outwardly slightly beyond the outer end of the end portion 10 of the handle 9, and yieldably engage the ceiling whereby they are adapted to compensate for non-uniform ceiling surfaces. The protruding edge portions 2, which extend outwardly beyond the adjacent longitudinal edge of the holder 3, bend slightly as they traverse high spots in the ceiling.

The blade elements 1 are interchangeable with other blade elements having serrated longitudinal edge portions 2 of different patterns for use in varying the width,

shape, pitch, and spacing of the alternating radially spaced concentric circular ridges and depressions whichcharacterize the design to be formed in the wet surface coating material.

The invention may be modified in various ways without departing from the spirit and scope thereof.

We claim:

A hand tool for use in decorating a planar surface having a plastic cementitious surface coating applied thereto, whereby a design is adapted to be formed in the wet surface coating material, the design consisting a plurality of concentric circles comprising alternating radially spaced circular ridges and depressions, comprising a pair of like elongated blade elements formed of elastic, resilient sheet material each having a serrated longitudinal edge portion conformable to the cross sectional contour of such a design, an elongated, substantially rigid blade holder having clamping means whereby the blade elements are removably secured thereto in longitudinally aligned, spaced apart relation to each other with their serrated edge portions protruding outwardly beyond a longitudinal edge of the holder, an elonagted handle having an end portion pivotally connected in side by side relation to t'ne holder intermediate its ends, equidistantly from the blade elements, mutually engaging means on said end portion and the holder limiting pivotal movement of the holder relative to the handle whereby the holder is maintained substantially perpendicular to the handle, the ser- References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Re. 12,697 Hess Sept. 24, 1907 1,473,143 Dean Nov. 26, 1923 1,575,318 Cowan Mar. 2, 1926 2,321,511 Piercy June 8, 1943 2,459,392 Power Jan. 18, 1949 2,750,616 Klugmann June 19, 1956 2,815,601 Hough Dec. 10, 1957 2,885,809 Pastoret May 12, 1959 FOREIGN PATENTS 535,221 Germany Oct. 7, 1931 

